In any vehicle control system there is a need to know when a vehicle has arrived within a vehicle stopping area, as well as determining when the vehicle has reached a defined zero speed such that the doors on the vehicle may be safely opened. In a known prior art system a signal is transmitted from the wayside along the vehicle stopping area informing the vehicle that the vehicle is within the vehicle stopping area. A tachometer or the like is included on the vehicle for sensing when the vehicle has reached the defined zero speed. The doors on the vehicle are opened in response to the concurrent provision of these two signals.
According to the teachings of the present invention, the vehicle senses its presence within the vehicle stopping area and the zero speed condition in response to the provision of signals from the wayside at the vehicle stopping area, thereby removing the need of a tachometer which is difficult to align properly to accurately sense the zero speed condition.